Store-service apparatus



(No Model.)

G. R. ELLIOTT; STORE SERVICE APPARATUS.

Patented NOV. 4, 1890.

WITNESSES INVENTOR MW. BYWIA ATTORNEY UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GILBERT R. ELLIOTT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGN OR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO, THE LAMSON CONSOLIDATED STORE SERVICE COMPANY, OF NEWARK,

.NEW JERSEY.

STORE-SERVICE APPARATUS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 439,726, dated November4, 1890.

I Application filed October 26, 1889. Serial No, 328,350. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.- Be it known that I, GILBERT R. ELLIOTT, acitizen of the United States, and a resident of New York, in the countyof New York and State of New York, haveinvented certain new and usefulImprovements in Store-Service Apparatus, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to store-serviceap- [O paratus, and particularlyto that kind wherein the end of the track is provided with a movablesection and a receiving and restoring cord, whereby the car is loweredwithin easy reach of the salesman and restored again to the track to besent to the distant station;

and it consists in the novel structure hereinafter fully set forth.

In the drawings forming a part thereof, Figure 1 is a side elevation ofan apparatus embodying the improvement. Fig. 2 is a plan view of thesame. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation taken on the line 3 3,Figs. 1 and 2.

Referring to said drawings, it will be un- 2 5 derstood that only oneend of the track of a store-service apparatus is shown, it being obviousthat the opposite endas, for instance, the cashiers desk may be providedwith the mechanism now to be described, or with any 0 other form thatmaybe suited to the requirements of the service.

The trackAmay consist of a wire stretched taut between distant stations,and, in the structure shown, rigidly conn ected to the outer 3 5 end ofan arm B, projecting from, say, a bar C, that is supported either fromthe ceiling or from the store-shelving by a bracket D. As the car restsat one or the other end'of the track for a greater or less space oftime, its

40 weight when at rest tends to sag the track at its end, This isutilized in the present construction to cause the opposite effect uponthe track, keeping it taut and preventing it from sagging. Thus the armG is bent or curved in the ogee form shown, so that when the car restsupon the movable section E, hereinafter referred to, as it does attimes, its weight will be equivalent to the strain upon the outer end ofthe arm 13, tending to still further bend that arm both upward and dowryward, which in effect tends to foreshorten it, and thus tightens thetrack. The junction between the arm B and the end of the track is hadthrough a bridge 20, leaving sufficient space between the track and theside of the arm laterally to permit the free travel of the carrier.

At or near the point of junction between the track and the arm B theformer is connected. with a movable section of track E that extendsrearward a suitable distance, and at its end is connected with areceiving and restoring cord 21, that extends up over and around apulley 22 that is mounted in a bracket 23, secured to the bar C, andsaid cord extends downward either to a spring-drum (not shown) that isadapted to take up the slack of thecord, or down within easy reach ofthe salesman, so that he may manipulate the cord in a manner presentlyto be described. The connection between the movable section of track Eand the track proper is a hinge of pivotal connection, so that saidmovable section may be moved with respect to the track within certainlimits-say, forinstance, from a position in substantial alignment withthe track to a position at an incline to the track so that the car onsaid section is caused to travel by gravity "With sufficient speed tocarry it to the distant station or opposite end of the track. Themovable section of track E is at or near its inner end preferablyprovided with a stop 24 to limit this movement. This stop consists of alink pivoted to the section and provided with a long slot 25, that isengaged by a pin 26, projected from the side of the arm B. This pin isset a little to one side and not directly in line with the connection ofthe link to the movable section E, so that when said section is movedfrom the position shown in dotted lines to the position shown in fulllines the link will be permitted to renection of cord 21, when at thewill of the salesman, by paying out upon the cord, the car will descendfrom 01f the movable section in a loop of the cord in a well-knownmanner. When it is desired to return the car, the salesman will drawupon the cord so as to raise the movable section E into the positionshown in full lines, and at the same time restore the car from the loopin the cord onto said movable section, when it will rapidly descend downthe incline formed by the section, and thence onto the track on its wayto the distant station.

In order to dispense with the usual movable gate with which cars in thisform of apparatus are usually provided for the wellknown purpose ofpreventing the car from becoming derailed and falling to the floor andyet permit the car to pass beyond a bridgepiece-such as QO-lreretoforedescribed, the car forming a part of the present invention is providedwith suitable guards to prevent the accident referred to. As usual insuch cars, the frame G is provided with a side opening 30 to permit thepassage of the bridge-piece 2O therethrough, which bridge-piece in thepresentinstance is provided with the U- shaped bend 31, within which aprojection 32 from the frame of the car extends. This bend of the bridgealso provides a second bend 33 and a right-angular bend 34:,and theupper part of the frame of the car is provided with a projection 35,extending immediately above the projection 32, with sufficient spacebetween the ends of the two projections to permit the bridge-piece topass between them, and a third projection 36 also extends from the cardown upon the inner side of the U- shaped bend 31 into the right-angularbend 34. Another portion of the frame of the car extends down into thebend formed by the portion 33 between the track and the U -shaped bend31. From this construction, owing to the serpentine form of thebridge-piece, it results that if the wheels of the car become derailedone or more of the several projections of the car just described willcatch against one or more of the bends formed in the bridge 20, andsustain the car sufficiently to prevent it from falling to the floor.

\Vhat I claim is-- 1. The combination of a track and a car movingthereon, an arm sustaining the end of the track, a movable sectionforming a continuation of the track, a cord for raising and loweringsaid section, and a reversible link connected with the section and witha fixture to form a stop for limiting the movement of said movablesection, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a track, an arm sustaining the end of the trackwith a connecting bridge-piece of serpentine form, anda car having oneor more projections extending from its frame for engagement with theserpentine bridge-piece should the car become derailed, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination of a track, an arm for sustaining the end of thetrack with a connecting bridge-piece, and a car provided with two ormore projections extending from its frame for engaging either with thebridgepiece or with the track should the car become derailed,substantially as described.

at. The combination of a track, an arm sustaining the end of the trackwith a connecting bridge-piece having two U-shaped bends, and a carprovided with two or more projections extending from its frame andcoacting with the bends in the bridge-piece and the track to prevent thecar from falling, substantially as described.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York and State of New York,this 12th day of October, A. D. 1889.

GILBERT R. ELLIOTT.

